Tag Archives: 2014

Hey everyone another year of great music is coming to a close. I haven’t had a ton of time to review all the records that I’ve loved over the year but here is a list (sort of in order) of the 45 records that have found themselves in my rotation the most. I wouldn’t necessarily say the order is indicative of what I think are the “best” albums from a critical standpoint but rather, they are ranked by how much of an impact they had on my listening habits over the year. Also, as always the minute I post this I will remember 5 other records I thought were great this year.

I’d like to take a minute to thank everyone who took the time to submit records to us, whether direct from an artist or a management type person we really appreciate all the albums we get (music nerds at heart here). I’d like to give a shoutout to Mark Hayes and George Douglas for contributing to the site all year. Also personally want to thank Richard Skanse and Lone Star Music Magazine for giving me the opportunity to write for them. A big thank you to all the artists that took the time to sit down and record a podcast with me. I want to also say thank you to the artists that are now making up the amazing roster of Broken Jukebox Media, my booking/publicity/management venture that started this year. And finally the most important thank you goes out to you, the readers/listeners and my amazingly supportive wife, Michelle without whom I’d be doing none of this.

I’m simply going to list these records, check out the reviews for some more in depth coverage of some of them and always check us all out on Social Media throughout the year to see our ongoing thoughts on these and tons of other albums. This list is my (Adam Dawson) personal list hopefully Mark and George will weigh in soon.

And so without further ado here’s the list from 45-1 :

45. Ryan Adams: Ryan Adams

44. Amos Lee : Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song

43. Doug Seegers : Going Down to the River

42. Angela Perley : Hey Kid

41. Beck : Morning Phase

40. Curtis McMurtry : a Respectable Enemy

39. Ronnie Fauss : Built To Break

38. Arlo McKinley and The Lonesome Sound : self titled

37. Jon Byrd : Route 41

36. Lydia Loveless : Somewhere Else

35. Seth Walker : Sky Still Blue

34. Grant Peeples : Punishing The Myth

33. Eric Brace & Karl Straub : Hangtown Dancehall

32. Corb Lund : Counterfeiter’s Blues

31. Mark Jungers : I’ll See You Again

30. Jason Eady : Daylight & Dark

29. Shovels & Rope : Swimmin’ Time

28. David Olney : When the Deal Goes Down

27. Jess Klein : Learning Faith

26. Graham Weber : Faded Photos

25. Chris Carroll : Trouble & Time

24. Justin Townes Earle : Single Mothers

23. Ray Bonneville : Easy Gone

22. Joshua Black Wilkins : Settling The Dust

21. Rodney Crowell : Tarpaper Sky

20. Nathan Bell : Blood Like a River

19. Hannah Aldridge : Razor Wire

18. Joe Fetcher : You’ve Got The Wrong Man

17. Caleb Caudle : Paint Another Layer On My Heart

16. Billy Joe Shaver : Long In The Tooth

15. John Hiatt : Terms of My Surrender

14. Scott Miller : Big Big World

13. Malcolm Holcombe : Pitiful Blues

12. Mary Gauthier : Trouble & Love

11. John Fullbright : Songs

10. Otis Gibbs : Souvenirs of a Misspent Youth

9. Sturgill Simpson : Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

8. St. Paul & The Broken Bones : Half The City

7. Hard Working Americans : Self Titled

6. Cory Branan : The No Hit Wonder

5. Rod Picott : Hang Your Hopes On a Crooked Nail

4. Adam Carroll : Let it Choose You

3. Will Kimbrough : Sideshow Love

2. Parker Millsap : Self Titled

1. Matt Woods : With Love From Brushy Mountain

So there you have my list for 2014. Do yourselves a favor and look them all up and buy them, every record on here is phenomenal.